This specification relates to content distribution.
The Internet has enabled access to a wide variety of resources, e.g., video and/or audio files, web pages for particular subjects, and news articles. Such access to these resources has likewise enabled opportunities for providing relevant additional content. For example, resources of particular interest to a user can be identified by a search engine in response to a user query. By comparing the user query to a list of keywords specified by an advertiser, it is possible to provide relevant advertisements to the user.
Another form of online advertising is advertisement syndication, which allows advertisers to extend their marketing reach by distributing advertisements to additional partners. For example, third party publishers can place an advertiser's text or image advertisements on web pages that have content related to the advertisement. As the users are likely interested in the particular content on the publisher webpage, they are also likely to be interested in the product or service featured in the advertisement. Accordingly, such advertisement placement can help drive online customers to the advertiser's website.
In some situations, advertisements can be selected for placement on a web page based on the outcome of an auction. For example, in a generalized second price auction, the top n advertisers will be placed in the n available advertisement slots. In other situations, web page publishers enter into agreements with advertisers to allow display advertisements on their web pages for a certain period of time and/or for a certain number of impressions, or views.